ABOUT Rotary Keswick

Keswick is a growing, mixed Club, engaged in local community support and overseas projects. We have raised over £32,000 for good causes in the past year, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves whilst doing all of this.

Keswick Rotary has an active and increasing membership of 33, both men and women, with a broad mix of skills and backgrounds. Like all Rotary Clubs, we aim to provide service to our communities, local national and international by providing funding and support. However, our club is unusual in serving a varied and rapidly changing community comprising longstanding Keswickians, relatively recent incomers and a weekly-changing population of up to 20, 000 visitors. That community leads to some unique challenges and opportunities.

Our Community Services encompass a wide range of fund-raising and fun activities engaging with local townspeople and visitors - from the Keswick Summer Show to the Fayre and Tree of Light in the Christmas period. We raise funds in a wide variety of ways for local charities for example Calvert Trust, Amy’s Care. Hospice at Home, West Cumbria Young Carers and great Northern Air Ambulance, as well as arranging an annual theatre visit and a Christmas Party for local people. We support individuals and youth organisations such as sports clubs, Scouts and Guides etc with both service and funding. And by no means least, we are staunch supporters of a campaign to improve the quality of town toilet facilities!

Our activities are not limited to local communities. The International Committee has recently organised the club to raise over £6000 to help earthquake victims in Nepal and we have annual commitments to support a strong and exciting community farming project in Choche, SW Ethiopia, English language skills among tea plantation workers in Sri Lanka and “Second Sight” cataract operations in NE India.

And for the young people of Keswick, the Vocational Committee supports the senior school and 4 local junior schools with a range of activity and challenges including music, poetry, technology, cookery. They also arrange annual large scale fund-raising events through theatre performances which have included “The Bootleg Beatles” and Christmas Proms. Throughout the year, the Vocational Committee organises a range of business and commercial visits for Club members - and our Sports lead arranges regular walking parties to suit all capabilities.

Finally, the Membership Committee is responsible for the welfare of members past and present, as well as welcoming new members. The page gives a lot more information about the Rotary Club. They also take the lead on the way the Club runs, the calendar and social events. You’ll find our exciting Programme of events on the website calendar.

Overall, we are proud to have raised - and donated – over £32,000 in 2014/15.

If you are a visiting Rotarian, we will give you the warmest of welcomes at our regular lunch meetings at the Skiddaw Hotel Keswick each Thursday between 12-2pm See the details on the main home page. Please contact the Hotel if you plan to join us.

If you think Rotary may be for you, we would be delighted to meet you. As a first step you might like to join us for lunch and meet other members. Click on the 'Membership' button on the right for contact details.